Saguaro National Park East during a wet monsoon
A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that we’ve had lots of rain, and the mountains are greening up. Well, we’ve had more rain, and the mountains are even greener, and Long-Suffering Husband and I finally made time to get out and enjoy them. And you, lucky reader, get to tag along. But first:
Welcome to the Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Natalie the Explorer. Lace up your hiking boots and grab your water bottle–we’re going to do some Sonoran Desert hiking!
Wet desert = beautiful desert
One of the best things about living in Tucson is all the outdoor recreation. We have so many places to go hiking, biking, and nature-watching. One of my favorite places to get out in the desert is Saguaro National Park. It has 2 units, one about half an hour west of me and the other about half an hour east. Both are wonderful. Last week we spent a lovely, cloudy morning in the east unit taking the Cactus Forest Drive and hiking at Javelina Rocks and the Freeman Homestead Trail.
If you visit the park website linked above, you can see pictures of how the park usually looks. Spoiler alert: it doesn’t look that way now. Now, thanks to lots of monsoon rains, it looks green and lush:
My husband describes cactus as, “land coral,” and he’s right. The picture above reminds me of the shapes and textures of a coral reef.
I took this picture to inspire me as I start working on our front yard garden this fall. I love the variety of layers and textures.
Javelina Rocks
One of my favorite sites in Saguaro East is Javelina Rocks. It’s accessible from Cactus Forest Drive and features interesting rock formations, amazing views, short trails, and opportunities to climb around and explore. A short article from Tucson.com has more information about the site, including pictures of what it looks like most of the year. Here’s what it looks like now:
In addition to all the cacti and other plants, we encountered tons of red-spotted toads, including this one in the parking lot:
These guys are *tiny*, not much bigger than a man’s thumbnail.
Next week I’ll share pics from the Freeman Homestead Trail, plus flowers and more critters. Now it’s time for:
Memes!
A small batch with no theme this week, because I’ve been super busy at work. Here we go:
Yakety Sax would also be funny. And I just got an Echo Dot last weekend, so this could happen.
I was going to save this one for the holidays, but I couldn’t wait. Now I kinda want a hellhound (or whatever the hell–no pun intended–this is) as a pet.
Here’s one I should have saved for Halloween:
That sentence is missing some necessary capital letters and punctuation. Let me create an account and edit the entry to correct those problems.
As long as I’m being nerdy:
Truth! Give me a billion dollars, and I’ll show you how it’s done.
I’ve never felt more called out. Also feeling called out by this one:
Just saying.
Parented a teenager. Can confirm. They also hiss (and sometimes scratch and bite) if you try to wake them up in the morning. This is why the British invented boarding schools.
And finally:
That’s it for me. Anyone have any interesting weekend plans? I’ll be writing and housecleaning. Wooooo….
22 Comments
laurazeigen
I love the greyscale photo at the very top of this post and also the color shots – wow! What green! I also love the frog photo as well as, as always, the memes. 🙂
Janet Alcorn
Thanks! The greyscale photo was taken at Saguaro West, I think in fall 2020. I was blown away by how green the desert is right now. Parts of it look almost like the Northwest.
goldfish
I’ve had the same “land coral” thought as your husband. I live in LA and we have lots of succulents that look like they’d happily grow underwater.
Janet Alcorn
Succulents definitely count as land coral!
Natalie
Janet, Thank you for your weekend coffee share and beautiful pictures. The lush green colour is so soothing to see. I look forward to seeing more pics next week.
Janet Alcorn
Thanks! It really is soothing to see. When I was reviewing photos, there were a few I kept coming back to just to stare at them.
Writing Sparkle
Hi Janet, great pictures. I have never seen a red-spotted frog. I was wondering as I read what kinds of animals or reptiles you would need to watchout for on a hike there?
Thanks for the virtual coffee.
Janet Alcorn
Lots of animals to watch for, some for safety reasons: rattlesnakes, scorpions, gila monsters (none of which I’ve ever seen in the wild around here). Some because they’re cool: bobcats (have seen one in my neighborhood), javelina (have seen but not in Saguaro NP), desert tortoise (saw on this trip – pics coming next week), bats (see them everywhere), raptors (various hawks, vultures, golden eagles), and quite a few more. We have lots of wildlife down here!
trent
I was only in Arizona once as a kid. I had seen all of these photos of the desert and really want to visit. It had rained quite a bit before we arrived and most of the state was closer to your photos than the publicity photos in Arizona Highways magazine. I was so disappointed… Now, as an adult, I think the desert in bloom is beautiful! What did I know as a kid?
Janet Alcorn
Ha! It’s fascinating how the landscape changes with the monsoon rains. Most of the year it looks like those publicity photos–still beautiful, but different.
Patrick Weseman
What a beautiful desert. Great pics
Janet Alcorn
Thanks!
Scribble and Scran
Amazing how quickly the dessert turns to green….I just assumed you get lots of wet sand. Thanks for the share….oh and the scooby doo tune cracked me up!
Janet Alcorn
Some deserts do pretty much get a lot of wet sand (and maybe a few wildflowers). But as deserts go, the Sonoran is fairly wet with lots of vegetation, so it greens up nicely.
rawsonjl
The dessert is beautiful! I laughed at that teenage meme… I have three and we pretty much only see them at mealtimes.
Janet Alcorn
Yeah, they do come out for food, don’t they? And then when you run out of clean plates, you discover an entire service for 12 stacked higgledy-piggledy in their room.
leannelc
Hi Janet – I really liked your husband’s description of “land coral” – it changed the whole vista for me into something really other-worldy. I also laughed at the “just saying” meme – it reminded me of my “whatever” post from last Monday 🙂
Janet Alcorn
I loved your, “whatever,” post! And since I read that meme, I’ve become acutely aware of how often I say, “just saying.” And now people will know what I’m really thinking when I say it.
Rowena
Hi Janet,
There was so much to love about your post. I also appreciated the b & w photo at the beginning, which was rather striking. I haven’t been to USA. However, I’ve been across the Nullarbor a few times here in Australia and that country is very barren with only tussock grass around. However, I also truly appreciate the vast sense of open space which we often don’t get to experience.
We’ve just been away for four days in Bathurst. It’s still Winter here and the deciduous trees were all bare which made for striking photography, but I also wondered what it would be like at other times of year and appreciated how different it would be. Australia doesn’t have naturally occurring deciduous trees which change colour in Autumn and while I’m a huge believer in Australia showcasing Australian flora, fauna and culture, I’d love to head back to Bathurst in Autumn and just absorb all of those Autumn leaves especially in Machattie Park, which has a very diverse range of deciduous trees. You can get a feel for all of this in my post. So, I had a similar experience to you seeing all that greenery and knowing how different it can be.
Anyway, I hope you have a great week and I look forward to the next installment.
Best wishes,
Rowena
Janet Alcorn
I never knew Australia didn’t have native trees with leaves that change color! I’ve never been there, unfortunately, though I’ve wanted to visit for a long time. We don’t have much leaf color here either. There are a couple of trees (not sure if they’re native) that have some color, but most of the native trees don’t lose their leaves except during exceptionally dry summers. And the ones that do lose leaves in fall (well, usually early winter because it’s so warm here) mostly just turn brown. When I lived in Oregon, we had really pretty fall leaves. I miss that, though I don’t miss all the rain.
Julie
A few years back my husband described Tuscon as “very green.” He went there around late August to early September — so right after monsoon season. I went to Tucson with him a few months after, but I think I may have missed the greenery. But the sunsets over there are very pretty :-).
Janet Alcorn
Yeah, we’re only green for a few weeks and not every year. Our sunsets really are amazing. I’m not sure why they’re more colorful here (dust, maybe?) but they are.